Galina
by Mutt Winchester
Summary: Leonard McCoy hated space. That wasn't a secret. However, never let it be said that Leonard did nothing without a good reason. And that reason was Pavel Chekov. Pavel had been in a flunk for ten days straight and Leonard wants to get to the bottom of it. So he does and he learns something about the ships youngest along the way.


**Notes-**

Well, this is my first fanfiction in years. I have some storiesfor Star Trek but due to recent events in my life and the passing of Anton Yelchin I felt a need to write some new stories.

On 5 June, 2016 one of my best friends was in a serious car accident and it was a long five weeks at the hospital while she fought for her life and is now on the road to recovery at a Rehabilitation Hospital where she will have to re-learn how to talk, walk, and basically everything. Every injury that is described happened to my friend. I felt the need to write about it because it has helped me better understand how much my life has changed and how much I still don't know about my friend and the true extend of her injuries.

I wrote in Pavel's accent (hopefully that is still understandable). If something is not clear let me know and I will edit it. This was NOT betaed so all my mistakes are my own. If there are major ones please tell me and I will fix them.

This takes place after Star Trek but about seven months before Into Darkness.

 **Galina**

 _Star date- 2258.166 (15 June, 2258)_

Leonard McCoy hated space.

That wasn't a secret. Everyone aboard the damn spaceship knew that. He thought space was dangerous so why he was willing going to rec-room three was a huge surprise. A surprise because rec-room three was just a giant room with a huge window looking out into the disease that was space.

However, never let it be said that Leonard did nothing without a good reason. And it was a damn good reason why he was in what he considered to be a hell room.

Pavel Chekov.

Leonard didn't need to say much else. He had always had a soft spot for the kid, mainly because seventeen years old was too young to be on a starship without his parents, both of whom Leonard had met via video chat. Pavel had had his own room at the academy but has shared a living room space with Leonard and Jim for three years. The placement had been planned by Christopher Pike (the man who had not only recruited Jim but Pavel as well).

The kid (and yes the kid was to be considered a kid, hell Leonard considered Jim a kid and the man was 25 years old!) had been in a flunk for the past ten days. The normally energetic teenager was quiet and subdued, only really talking unless asked a question or his input on something.

Now Leonard knew people could have bad days and maybe be a little homesick but to go on for over a week and no one (especially Jim who saw the kid everyday) was not doing anything for the teenager was appalling to Leonard. Pavel had dark circles under his eyes and looked thinner the past few days. And the Russian wasn't going on his usually morning run which was more than a clear sign that something big was wrong (hell the kid had still done his morning runs in the middle of finals week!).

Pavel was sitting on the floor with his back towards the door and his front towards the open window but he wasn't looking outside, instead Leonard could see a soft glow from a PADD held within the boy's hands. Leonard walked closer making sure to keep his footsteps light so not to disturb the kid.

The Russian was looking at pictures, old pictures if Leonard had to take a guess because in the pictures was a younger looking Pavel standing next to a pretty brunette who probably had eight or so years on the boy. _She looks to be Jim's age_ , Leonard thought. _Could be a sister or cousin._ The pictures were mostly of the pair, sometimes there was a group of people. One picture looked to be from a wedding with Pavel dressed in a tux and this girl in a bridesmaid dress.

"She's beautiful," Leonard commented quietly and was not surprised when Pavel jumped in his skin and nearly dropped the PADD.

"Doktor!" Pavel exclaimed moving to stand at attention but Leonard just waved.

"At ease, kid, neither one of us is on duty," Leonard said softly as he moved around the loveseat couch to sit down beside the kid. "Who is she? Your sister?"

"My couseen," Pavel answered. His face, which had been a bittersweet smile, was now a full frown. "My favoreete couseen. I do not hawe seesters. I am only cheeld."

Leonard carefully watched Pavel's face, the teenager was more sad than happy. Something had happened. Leonard had gotten a degree in Psychology when he was going through college and then med school. He figured that understanding behavior, along with anatomy, would make him even better at his job.

"What happened?" Leonard asked. A part of him was afraid to hear the answer. All the pictures Pavel was looking at with probably four or five years old and Leonard knew the kid had gone home a couple times during their Academy days and the crew had gotten some time after Nero to visit family and friends before going back to their new mission.

"Nozing happened!" Pavel defended.

"Don't insult my intelligence kid, I may not be a mathematical whiz kid like you but I ain't no idiot nor am I blind," Leonard interrupted. "Somethin' is going on, you haven't been yourself for nearly two weeks and I don't believe that people are happy every day of every year but you've been in a flunk for ten days straight."

"I…" Leonard watched as Pavel bite his lip and set the PADD on the floor right next to him, the smiling face of his cousin looking up at the pair.

"Take your time, Pavel," Leonard said as he glanced out at the stars and had to stop a shudder from shaking his own body.

"Zree years ago leefe changed," Pavel whispered, Leonard looked down at the kid. "Eet was Stardate 2255.156 and there was acceedent. Galina, my couseen, was en car veez her boyfreend and zey vere… vhat is vord… t-boned on Galina's seede of car."

Leonard frowned and closed his eyes, he was afraid of this.

"Galina deed not dee," Pavel said interrupting Leonard's thoughts. "But she was sereeously hurt. She was aeer-leefted to St. Petersburg. Zee acceedent happened reeght before 1200 and I got zere viz mama at 2000 hours. By the teeme we got zere most of fameely was zere.

"Eet was scary. We had gotten call early and I had packed bag to stay viz my aunt Katya at hotel connected to hospeetal," Pavel whispered.

"How bad was it?" Leonard asked unable to stop himself.

"Galina had spleen removed and zere was damage to her leever and keedneys. She had broken pelvees, broken reeps, and punctured lung. Damage to heart and braeen as well. She had been out of surgery by teeme I arreeved but vere deed not get to see her unteel 2200 hours," Pavel explained, his voice very detached.

Leonard mentally pictured all the injuries in his mind and quickly thought of how he would have done the surgery in order to safe her. Every single major organ had been damaged during this accident and yet the girl had survived, even with all there advances medically technology still didn't make doctors gods able to cure everything.

"What happened next?" Leonard said carefully watching Pavel's reaction.

"Mama left for home… she had vork to do. I had called Maggie, who ees Galina's best friend, she had just been veesteeng from Amereeca and she came back to Russia. By 0030 we vere seeng Galina. She had tubes and IVs… she deed not look leeke Galina," Pavel whispered.

Leonard could only imagine what this young girl looked like, no doubt with part of her head shaved and tubes down her throat to help her breath, along with bruises and IVs to give sedative, pain, blood pressure, and heart medicine. To see someone you loved looking like that, especially at fourteen, would be tough.

"Zee feerst week was longest. Her pressure een breean was wery heegh. Dokors removed part of skull on day zree and zat ees when were heard about…" Pavel stumbled over his words and Leonard wanted to move to the boy to comfort him but stopped himself. "About zee stroke een braeen and… how eet was part of braeen zat had personaleety and memory.

"Eet was hard to eemageene Galina not lowing zeengs she lowed. Eweryone was talkeeng about favoreete memorees of Galina and I could not peeck one because ewery memory was favoreete. And I could not help zeenk zat I meeght not make new memorees viz her…"

Pavel stopped and Leonard felt helpless as he watched the seventeen year old buried his face into his knees to try and hide his tears. But Pavel could not hide the sound of his sobs. Leonard moved closer so his legs were bumped up against Pavel's right side and moved his left hand to the boy's neck and made shooing sounds without even realizing it.

This situation sounded like hell and Leonard could picture the whole Chekov clan (if it was even a Chekov cousin, Pavel hadn't said) just devastated as someone so young was fighting for her life. Removing a piece of someone's skull wasn't actually that major of a surgery (hadn't even been major two hundred and fifty years ago) but would undoubtedly be scary for people who had no medical knowledge.

Leonard listened as Pavel took a huge breathe and coughed before he started talking again. "Eet was around teeme when Keptin Peeke showed. I was to hawe meeteeng viz heem on Wednesday but he had come to hospteeal. He ees good man," Pavel commented. "He took me to food out of hospital and saeed zat Starfleet could wait few veeks, I was to come early to Academy, dureeng summerteeme."

Leonard smiled despite himself that sounded like Pike to work with Starfleet to make an expectation for a cadet. Especially a cadet as brilliant as Pavel, no doubt Starfleet had waited for the kid to be old enough to attend the Academy at a reasonable age (and if it was up to Leonard eighteen would be a reasonable age not fourteen).

"After breean surgery Galina had queet days and doctors treed to ween off sedateeve medicine but zat did not go vell. Zee pressure went back up and doktors removed ozer part of skull. After zat she had more queet days and zey had cooled body to near hypothermic state," Pavel described. "Then after eeght days after acceedent they started to warm up but she did not take vell.

"There were more scans and zere showed to be tissue deaz een breean…" Pavel broke off again and Leonard made a point of going onto the floor to sit next to Pavel and moved his arm around the boy's shoulders.

It took some time but Leonard listened quietly as Pavel began to describe the next week of his cousin's life at the hospital. Galina's body had been cooled to near hypothermic state again, this time for longer, and the doctors were going to take a longer time to warm her up. As they started warming up Galina the lights, which in her room had been turned off and the room quiet, could now be on to help her brain understand that it was daytime and it was meant to be active.

"I started to read to her. Her favoreete book, _Harry Potter_ ," Pavel said. "She lowed serees and read zem to me vhen I vas leettle..."

Leonard had to smile. He had once had a patient when he was just starting out who had been really sick and it had taken some time but the young man got better. During the man's time at the hospital his mother would be in his room reading to her son all the old stories she had read to him when he was a kid. When the man woke up he talked to his mother about how he could hear her the whole time and stories had been a comfort. So Leonard was a firm believer in reading to sick patients.

Pavel went on talking about how the doctors started to ween her off the sedative drugs. The young woman had gotten a tracheotomy ("She look so much better vizout all tubes down throat"). She had also gotten a feeding tube put directly into her stomach. Galina had started to maintain her blood pressure without medicine and was controlling a lot of her own breaths.

"One teeme vhen I was readeeng Galina started to move her feengers een her left hand and eet was around teeme vhen she was openeeng eyes," Pavel continued. "Doktors saeed zat because she had opened eyes she was not een coma. She was avake but not avake. Ees hard to descreebe."

"That is generally hard to explain in general," Leonard said. "What a lot of people don't realize is that people don't magically wake up eyes open and alert after somethin' like this. And considerin' how long Galina had been sedated and her injuries would factor into it."

" _Da_ ," Pavel said nodding his head and turning to look at Leonard. The southern doctor saw the tear stains down Pavel's face, the snot in his nose, and bright red eyes. "Doktors saeed eet could take up to zree months to know full damage."

Three months would have put Pavel at the Academy by then. Leonard remembered meeting the kid with Jim nearly three years ago.

" _Kirk, Doctor McCoy," a man in the Captain grey uniform from campus greeted as the pair of them was lead into an office. "I'm Captain Christopher Pike and I've worked out so that you two are roommates."_

 _Leonard blinked dumbly, he had just met this punk kid four hours ago and now the Academy wanted them to be roommates? Though, honestly, it was probably better because Jim was twenty-two and not some young eighteen year old kid._

" _What's the catch?" Jim asked and out of the corner of his eye Leonard was carefully watching the Iowan but kept his full attention on Pike._

" _That catch is that you two are going to be suitemates with a very interesting cadet," Pike began. "His name is Pavel and he's coming from Russia…" Leonard waited as Pike grabbed his PADD and open a file showing a picture of a curly haired kid with big grey eyes and a bright smile. The kid looked to be about… "…Pavel is fourteen."_

" _You want us to room with a fourteen year old?" Jim asked._

" _Not room with, he'll have his own but he will be sharing a living room area and bathroom with you two," Pike explained. "I understand this isn't fair to either of you two but the cadets on the shuttle leaving Iowa had already been given room assignments."_

" _You want us to babysit the kid?" Leonard commented unable to stop himself._

" _No, not at all. You'll have your own courses, but you both will undoubtedly test out of many, as will Pavel, it's just…" Pike frowned and Leonard stared at the older man. "He's brilliant and Starfleet has had its eye on this kid for some time now and a recent event nearly influenced whether he would be joining us this year or waiting another year to deal with… personal issues."_

 _As curious as Leonard was about these 'personal issues' because honestly fourteen years old and away from home (what the hell were his parents thinking?) it wasn't his place to ask nosy questions. Instead Leonard just asked, "When do we meet the kid?"_

 _Leonard watched as Captain Pike gave a soft smile as he led the pair out of his office to one of the dorm buildings on campus. Either Leonard or Jim had any other clothes but the ones on their back so it was not like they had to drag any suitcase or backpack behind them._

" _Pavel arrived here three days on a shuttle with myself and Ensign Holmes, who you will undoubtedly meet whether with Pavel or the classroom. Holmes gives guess lectures in certain topics, I've asked her to speak in a few of my classes that are required," Pike was explaining as the trio entered the tubro-lift and headed to the sixth floor._

" _Her? Ensign Holmes is a girl?" Jim asked and Leonard had to stop from rolling his eyes. Barely there (_ he hasn't even met her! _Leonard thought) and he's already thinking with his dick. Leonard was beginning to doubt if he still wanted to be roommates with the kid._

 _Pike knocked and Leonard heard a soft sound that did not sound like English. Pike entered and Jim and Leonard followed. There wasn't much to the living room area in the dorm. There was a couch and a loveseat with a long coffee table in between them. Directly opposite the main door was the door that Leonard guessed was to the bathroom. To his left Leonard could see a closed door and by process when the door to the right opened the doctor knew Pavel's room was to the right._

" _Hello Pavel," Pike greeted politely. "These two gentlemen are going to be your suitemates during your time at the Academy."_

"Privet _," the boy mumbled before quickly shaking his head. "I mean hello."_

 _The kid had an accent that was thick but still understandable. He looked younger than the picture Pike had showed them in his office, but at the same time the kid looked older. Pavel was pale to the point that Leonard thought the kid was sick with a cold. Dark, vicious circles under his eyes showed that the boy hadn't gotten proper sleep in probably weeks. Whatever personal issue that Pavel had been dealing with obviously had taken a toll on the kid._

 _However, what made the kid look really young was the civilian clothes he was wearing; black socks with blue jeans and a graphic t-shirt. The shirt was black and it had three words that Leonard couldn't understand in lime green with two words in red below them. But what caught Leonard's attention the most was the design of a grey horse on the shirt._

"That shirt you were wearin' the first time Jim and I met you that was for your cousin wasn't it? What did it say?" Leonard asked as he drew himself from his memories.

Leonard watched as Pavel blinked dumbly at him, as if surprised that Leonard remembered what Pavel had been wearing nearly three years ago.

" _Da_ ," Pavel said with a nod as he picked up the PADD again and changed the picture to another girl, whom Leonard recognized as Ensign Holmes, wearing the shirt. "Eet says 'Turn and Burn… For Galina.' Eet ees horse…"

"It's a horse term," Leonard interrupted and took in Pavel's shocked face. "I grew up on estate with horses when I was a kid. I was a barrel ridin' champ at the county fair for three years in a roll."

"Vhat ees county faeer?" Pavel asked titling his head to the side.

"Never mind, it's not important. Doesn't the shirt say somethin' on the back?" Leonard questioned trying to rack his memory. He remembered seeing a giant green letter with wings on the back with some more words in red beneath it.

" _Da_ , is verse, Psalm 91:11, _For He vill command Hees angels concerneeng jou to…"_

"… _to guard you in all of your ways._ It's a well-known verse," Leonard finished.

Leonard tried to remember that first semester at Starfleet but he was focused on his classes and making sure Jim didn't bring back too many people to their dorm for Pavel to see. Leonard knew that Pavel spent a lot of time in his own room and was really only out in the living room if he spending time with Ensign Holmes who visited fairly often when she was on planet.

The doctor could recall various times when he could hear Pavel speaking in Russian on video chat with his parents (the first time his parents had called the young teen had stumbled out of his room with a blush and had to introduce the Russians to his suitemates). But then, Pavel could have easily been talking to his cousin or other family members.

"Did your cousin start to get better?" Leonard asked. He knew modern medicine was leaps and bounds of what it had been but that still didn't mean that it wouldn't take time to heal from a brain injury.

" _Da_ , Galina started vakeeng up more and more. She got helmet and vould hawe to wear eet when she was seeteeng een chaeer. She deed not leeke her helmet," Pavel said quietly with a small smile. "She started breatheeng on her own, but stell had trach."

Leonard continued to listen as Pavel describe how Galina was moved out of the Critical Care unit and could now have people in her room all day. The young woman was still waking up and was at a point where her eyes were open and she could follow people but was not doing so well with doing things on command.

"But she started to get better viz dextereety and doeeng vhat doktors called purposeful mowement," Pavel explained. "She started cougheeng more and zat was hard to vatch at begeeneeng because Galina looked to be een much paeen."

Leonard watched as Pavel took a deep breath and wiped at his eyes again. The coughing was a good sign as it was most likely Galina coughing up the mucus in her lungs. The purposeful movement was an even better sign because it showed that Galina was actually thinking of the action and making conscious thought to achieve it.

"Ze hardest part was sayeeng goodbye…" Pavel took another stuttering breathe and small sob broke from his lips. "Keptin Peeke had geeven me teeme but I was to go to Academy early and I was feeve veeks late."

"Why did Starfleet want you that early?" Leonard asked. He and Jim had arrived at least two weeks before classes had started so why Starfleet wanted the kid there seven weeks before made no sense.

"Starfleet had been eenterested een me seence I was eeght. I graduated secondary at eleven and zen vent to Uneeverseety for zree years before Starfleet," Pavel answered with a sniff.

"So you said goodbye and came to the Academy," Leonard stated, no reason to make the kid remember saying goodbye to his cousin. "Did she stay at the hospital in St. Petersburg?"

" _Nyet,_ no, she went to rehabeeleetateeon hospital in Moscow. She was zere for about sewen veeks and went back to Petersburg to get her skull put back but I was at Academy by zen," Pavel explained. "My aunt vould sent messages and peectures ewery day and I got to weedeo chat viz Galina. Heareeng about her day was the best part of meene."

"I have no doubt," Leonard whispered and tighten his grip around Pavel's shoulders. The teen let out a sigh and slummed against Leonard's side. A sudden thought came to the doctor, "is Galina the reason you wanted to donate blood as soon as you turned sixteen."

Pavel nodded, " _Da,_ Galina had gotten lots of blood dureeng her teeme at hospteeal. I vanted to help someone else."

"You're a good kid, Pavel," Leonard whispered.

" _Nyet_ , am not," Pavel mumbled.

Leonard blinked and loosened his grip so he could look down at Pavel and have the teen look back but the Russian was staring down at his lap. "What do you mean you're not good, kid?"

"I thought horreeble zeengs about Georigiy, Galina's boyfriend, dureeng teeme at hospeetal," Pavel whispered.

"What horrible things?" Leonard asked even though he had an idea.

"I vished eet had been heem and not Galina," Pavel stated glancing at Leonard before he went back to glaring at him hands before he let out a puff of breath, the anger deflating from him. "Ewen zree years later, I vish eet had been heem."

"That doesn't make you a horrible person, Pavel. Hey look at me, kid," Leonard demanded softly and waited as the kid looked up with big eyes. "It doesn't make you a horrible person, it makes you human.

"They say that sufferin' is good for the soul but not this. Sometimes sufferin' is just sufferin'. It doesn't make you stronger, it doesn't build character. It only hurts," Leonard said staring into Pavel's red eyes. "That's what this situation sounds like. You and your family had to watch someone you love very deeply fight for her life and then try to get her life back together, that was hell, no doubt about it."

"Leefe ees not faeer," Pavel pouted looking very much like a seventeen year old who had been continually knocked down by the world.

"No, no it's not fair. It wasn't fair that this happened to Galina, or your family. But it did happen," Leonard stated. "And even after three years later this month still affects you and that's fine. People say time heals all wounds but that's horseshit. This is going to be somethin' you think about the rest of your life. And you have a right to think about and be sad about it, but you don't have to be sad alone… How big is your family back home?"

"Beeg," Pavel answered. "I am youngest couseen on boz seedes."

"And you're the youngest on this ship, a sad truth," Leonard added after seeing Pavel's frown. "But this ship is your new family and I don't know about in Russia but down south we look after family."

Pavel gave a smile, a true smile. The first smile Leonard had seen on the kid's face in nearly two weeks, it was as if someone had turned back on the sun. Leonard couldn't help himself from smiling back. Damn… he was going soft if Jim (or god forbid Spock) found out it would be the end of his reputation.

But it would be worth it if he got to see Pavel's smile.

" _Spasibo_ Leonid," Pavel whispered.

"Leonid?" Leonard repeated, probably butchering the pronunciation.

"Eet ees what jou vould be called een Russia," Pavel answered bringing his knees to his chest and hugging them. "Jou not leeke eet?"

Pavel's eyes were wide again with a small hint of fear but Leonard merely smiled again. "Leonid? It's better than Bones," Leonard said with a shrug. "So, does your family call you Pavel or…"

"Someteemes, more now zat I am older," Pavel said. "But I am mostly called Pasha, eet ees neeckname."

"Pasha," Leonard said testing the name on his lips. "What does it mean?"

"Small," Pavel answered. "Pavel means same."

"And Galina? What does her name mean?" Leonard asked.

"Breeght one," Pavel said. "And Leonid means lion."

"Lion, eh?" Leonard muttered. "Not bad."

Pavel smiled again before a giant yawn broke the soft silence. Leonard studied Pavel's face. The kid still looked tired, in fact probably more so than before Leonard had entered the rec-room. Crying was exhausting on a person but Pavel also looked lighter. Like a weight had been lifted. Leonard was only angry that he had never done anything about in the near three years he had known the kid.

"I think it would be a good idea for both of us to head to bed, God knows Jim is goin' have us do some stupid shit tomorrow for no good reason," Leonard said as he rose to his feet, purposing closing his eyes so not to look at the giant window of space.

Pavel stood up as well grabbing his PADD and staring out the window into the vastness that was space. "Galina told me quotes before I was leaveeng for Starfleet," Pavel whispered. "I had spent weekend viz her and Maggie, reeght before acceedent but when I left I told her she feet zem better."

"What were they?" Leonard asked turning slightly so he was at least facing the kid, the window was to his right.

" _For star to be born zere ees one zing zat must happen. A nebula must collapse. So collapse. Crumble. Zis ees not jour destructeeon. Zis ees jour birth_ ," Pavel quoted. "Galina, got better but eet took teeme."

"That's a nice quote, was there another?" Leonard asked and he took a peek at stars beyond the window.

" _We vere stars once and vill do as stars are born to do. Burn. Of course we vill end, all great zings do,_ " Pavel whispered. "I lowed those tvo quotes but favoreete quote about stars ees, _I hawe lowed the stars too fondly to be fearful of zee neeght."_

Leonard smiled again before putting a hand on Pavel's shoulders and walking the pair to the door. The two walked in silence as Leonard moved towards the part of the ship that had the chief bridge crew, despite only being an Ensign Pavel had been given the Chief Navigator quarters. Leonard's were further down the hall closer to Med-Bay.

Stopping outside Pavel's quarters Leonard put his hand on the Russian's shoulder. "Remember, Pavel, you have a right to be sad but you don't need to do it alone. You know where to find me."

" _Spasibo,_ Leonid," Pavel whispered and before Leonard could react Pavel had rushed forward to hug the older man.

Leonard had to watch his footing as the force of Pavel pushed into him and it took him a moment before he softly returned the hug. Ruffling the kid's hair before Pavel took a step back breaking the hug and giving Leonard a shy smile. The doctor gave a smile of his own before moving to walk down to his own quarters.

"Leonid?" Pavel called out.

Leonard turned back to see the kid looking down at his shoes before looking back up. "Yeah, kid?"

"Vould jou leeke to look at peectures of Galina tomorrow? I have veedeos of her reedeeng Chico, her horse," Pavel said before biting on his bottom lip.

"I would like that, Pavel," Leonard said honestly.

Leonard McCoy hated space.

But seeing Pavel Chekov's smile made it all worth it.

Notes-  
Thanks for reading. Please review.  
Russian-  
Yes - Da  
No - Nyet  
Hello - Private  
Thanks - Spasibo


End file.
